Mei Akiyama
"Living on hate, and injuring herself in the process." - Mei Akiyama '''(明秋山, Akiyama Mei) is a wanted criminal in Seireitei for the slaughter of several unseated officers from the Eleventh Division and attempted murder of Hisoka Kuchiki. Currently, she's hiding out in '''Sector Seven of N. Tokyo in the Human World and working as a mercenary for hire. She plays as an antagonist in my upcoming fanon series, Bleach: The Lost Children Chronicles. Appearence Mei's true appearence consists of wearing an all type of silk overcoat with a black leggings, her hand always on the hilt of her Zanpakutō while patrolling her sector of the city, unwilling to be caught unawares. While in her Gigai and leaving her apartment or at seen occassionally at bars, she wears a black wig, simple black tank top, leather pants, and fingerless black gloves, normally nursing a glass of alcohol and cigarette. Personality Mei is calm, rational, professional, and thorough most of the time. Contradictorily, though, she can be impulsive, irrational, and tempermental, and persistently likes joking around with others in her apartment building, and will even humiliate herself if it'll make the person she thinks deserves kindness smile. Despite her profession, Mei has a healthy appreciation for life and the well-being of others around her, and while in the company of young children, she'll abandon decorum and joke around and play with them, although she insists that she wouldn't be good with kids of her own. History Born into the Rukon Districts a little closer to Seireitei's walls didn't allow much in the way of violence and discomfort despite the fact that she and her family, consisting of her single father and his mistress, as well as her own mother, although not poor per se, did not exactly lead a life of luxury. Mei knew what hard work was intimately, being somewhat of a handmaid for her father's mistress and by the time she was ten in human years, she was working several jobs to keep the house paid and from being cast out on the streets as her father, although a man of few words tried very hard to keep up appearences of having any semblance of order in his household. Several decades of this treatment continued before Mei could no longer contain her pride and decided to pursue a career as a Shinigami, having seen them occassionally when Hollows appeared close to their home, and seen how simple minded and animalistic they were; she pitied them and these feelings only enhanced when she realized they were originally human souls who'd been lost to their despair, she wanted to help them. Several more years passed, Mei having graduated the Academy achieving a promotion and became the 7th seat of the Fifth Division, but she decided to visit her younger half sister, who although slightly spoiled, had good intentions and tried to look out for her even though it should be the other way around. Their reunion was not a pleasent one. The house was had been ransacked, though nothing valubale had been taken, she found her younger sister, who'd been courting the Elventh Division taicho, raped, bleeding, and half dead. The extent of the damage was too extensive to attempt to move her and take her to a healer, so she, crying and furious, demanded to know who had hurt her so badly. And so her sister told her before she took her last breath...sending Mei into an uncontrollable rage. Quickly, she returned to Seireitei and called the Eleventh Division taicho out, demanding he pay for his crime with his life, naturally, his division members attempted to step in, but several unseated members paid the price. Mei nearly decimated the entire Elevnth Division and went toe to toe with the man's lieutenant before she was restrained forcefully by the Sixth Division members and the taicho, Hisoka Kuchiki. There was a trial and while several people were incensed by the depravity shown at the scene of the crime, the Central 46 ultimately dismissed it. Seeing that the Eleventh Division members were seemingly getting off lightly, she attempted to make an example out of how corrupt the system was by killing Hisoka Kuchiki and framing someone else, but she couldn't quite go through with it, and Hisoka Kuchiki has resented her ever since despite the fact that she spared his life. Years have past since then, and Mei frequently moves from neighborhood to neighborhood, sometimes to different countries and generally tries to keep a low profile from Seireitei, that is until one day she can have the means to get revenge on the society which was hypocritical enough to deny her and her sister justice, but condemn her for sparing a noble. Mei still has a burning hatred for the Seireitei and will use anything, or anyone, in order to see that they are punished and their misdeeds are brought to light, as she feels it is the least she could do for failing her sister, something she still harbors guilt over. The outcome of venegance is never a pretty sight and the road to Hell is paved with the best of intentions. How far and how willing Mei is to fall has yet to be seen. Certain family members would fall to the edge of the abyss and burn gladly in Hell if their hatred can be abated by an iota, and Mei is one such person to do this freely. Equipment Gigai: Mei is most likely to be seen in her Gigai, although her outfits and hairstyles do change depending on the assignement. Futuristic Motorcycle: Mei's infamous mode of transportation. This lovely piece of metal and hi-tech technology is capable of driving up the walls of buildings, hovering in mid-air for a certain duration of time, and can even disrupt police report signals. There's also the ol' fashion treatment of running people over. Corrosive substances: Mei doesn't carry them around with her, but she does have them on hand, in a selected part of her apartment, a place where people cannot easily find or get ahold of it. Tear gas: Used when she's in a pinch while on an assignment. While an 'antique' compared to more harmful and newly invented/dangerous gases, she considers this essential. Barbed Wire: Considered by employers and sometimes her partners on a case as old fashioned, she uses this for traps on her more eccentric targets to slow them down. Security System Breaking and Entering Pad (SSBEP for short): Disguised as anything from as small as a pen, to a picture, or any trinket pickpocketed off her target and replaced with the device, this handy gadget allows Mei to hack into her target's home security system with little to no problem. Powers and Abilities Hakuda Master: Mei is highly proficient in hand-to-hand combat, which she liked most during her training when she first joined the Academy, her skill has only grown as the years pass. *'Kazaguruma' (風車, "Windmill"): a hakuda technique where one throws their body up into the air, making a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg in front of the other without holding on to the ground. The move can either be done backwards or sideways. When the move is done with one leg high over the head to deliver a devastating kick to an opponent sending them flying away with tremendous force. Great Spiritual Power: Mei boasts a great amount of spiritual energy despite apparently not even being a seated member of the Gotei 13. Master Assassin: During her time in the Human World, she has become one of the foremost masters in the art of assassination and well known to be skillful in staying hidden, using Shunpo, she has disabled targets. Enhanced Strength: Mei is strong enough to take on bigger opponents despite her smaller stature, easily overcoming those four times her size. Enhanced Durability: Mei is highly durable, able sustain heavy damage while attaining no apparent injury. Shunpo Master: Mei is highly proficient in Shunpo and her time in the Human World has only made her hone that ability. Master Swordsmanship Specialist: Mei is masterful in swordsmanship, usually only employing her Zanpakutō when she faces a opponent with a drawn weapon. Kidō Expert: Mei is well versed in art of Kidō, though she prefers to use it with other hand-to-hand combat techniques. Zanpakutō Kikka Kumo (菊花蜘蛛, Chrysanthemum Spider): In its sealed form, it takes on the form of a butterfly sword roughly as long as her forearm, which allows for easy concealment inside loose sleeves or boots, and allows her greater maneuverability when spinning and rotating during close-quarters fighting. Shikai: "Bring all my enemies into my grasp." Mei tosses her Zanpakutō in the air, letting it spin a few times. Catching it in her left hand, the Kikka Kumo glows a light purple, structurally reforming as a Jiujiebian '''or nine section whip, consisting of several metal rods, which are joined end-to-end by rings to form a flexible chain, the whip has a handle at one end and a metal dart, used for slashing or piercing an opponent, at the other,a cloth flag is attached at the dart end of the whip and a second flag may cover the whip's handle, which produces a rushing sound as the whip swings through the air. Spinning the Jiujiebian overhead and around her body in a show of great flexibility and acrobatics, she creates a strange purple like mist around herself, hiding her from view and allowing the perfect cover for the Shikai ability to occur. '''Shikai's Special Ability: The mist that appears as Mei swings Kikka Kumo acts as a smoke screen for Mei to move silently and stealthily in order to capture her target; once the opponent is in sight, a substance similar to a spider web's silky thread, only like steel, binds the enemy so that they cannot move and then several insects dig their way into the enemy's body, making them desperately want to scratch at their skin and get the bugs out, which is actually a bad idea as it releases several venoms that invoke lock up the muscles and subjects the victim to horrible memories. *'Douteki '(毒液, Venom): Mei flicks her wrist casually, purposely allowing the spider web threads to free her enemy. As they get up, scratching and tearing at the skin, attempting to get the bugs out of them, a special, fast acting poison is released directly into their bloodstream, locking their muscles up. *'Genkaku' (幻覚, Hallucination): Using Kikka Kumo's power of illusion, the victim is caught in a dark area, similar to a long hallway or something similar, extending her influence over the area, she can also read minds/souls allowing her to determine what illusions work best on her victims. These illusions include making herself appear humongous and showing her victim a painful or distracting memory. Bankai: Not Yet Achieved. Trivia *Mei's Zanpakuto has some resemblance to Soi-fon's Suzumebachi. *While she's off duty, she likes to watch sun rise and sunsets *She prefers silence, but not lonliness *Strawberry shortcake and chocolate pudding are the key to winning her over *Her theme song is Don't Stop by Innerparty System, her soundtrack theme song is Just Like You by Three Days Grace, and her fighting theme is I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin. Behind the Scenes Mei's Zanpakutō abilities are based off the scarabs found in the Mummy movie.